


Family Christmas

by mggislife2789



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Decorations, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Tree, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 09:20:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13004694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mggislife2789/pseuds/mggislife2789
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or their original stories. This is only for fun. It's where my brain goes after the credits roll. No copyright intended. Better safe than sorry. ;)Day 13 of the 25 Days of BAU Christmas. <3





	Family Christmas

“Oh the weather outside is frightful…”

From December 1st until well into January, Christmas could be felt the moment anyone walked into Rossi’s house. Or was it a mansion? It was probably considered a mansion. 

With the departure of Morgan from the team (for the best of reasons, but still) and the inability of Hotch and Jack to be with them for the foreseeable future, Rossi wanted more than ever to keep the family he had closer than ever. That was why Joy, her husband, his beloved grandson Kai, Spencer, Luke, Emily, JJ, Tara and Penelope were all on their way.

Actually it sounded like someone was here already. 

As he rounded the corner, he lit up, seeing Joy’s bright smile and feeling Kai cling onto his pants. “Hey, kiddo!”

“Hi Grandpa!” Kai gave him a kiss on the cheek before Rossi put him down and he ran into the foyer. “Woah!”

Joy and her husband had no idea what their son was exclaiming about…until they followed after him. “My goodness, Dad. How big is that tree?”

“Twelve feet?” He said sheepishly. His daughter gave him a disbelieving look. “What? I have a big family and I wanted everybody to have enough tree to decorate.”

Honestly, Joy didn’t really expect anything less from her father. Even in the short time she’d gotten to know him, she knew a few things - he had more money than he could ever spend on himself, and he had plenty of people he wanted to share it with. As Kai played, Rossi grabbed the tired but happy parents a glass of wine each, making sure to pour extra glasses for when the rest of the family arrived, which just so happened to be shortly after.

“Oh, you already have wine ready for me,” Emily laughed. “Merry Christmas to me.” Holding the glass up to her nose, she inhaled the sweet scent before taking a sip. 

The giant group fell into festive conversation, discussing holiday plans while enjoying their drinks, when Rossi pointed towards the boxes of ornaments he’d collected over the years. “I’ll have a blue…Christmas…without you…” He started to croon. “Don’t judge me children. I’m being festive. Now let’s get to decorating.”

Before everyone had arrived, Rossi set up a holiday playlist with great songs, old and new, for the team to enjoy. Classics like Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley and White Christmas by Bing Crosby were played, as were the likes of All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey, and this new acapella group named Pentatonix that he’d gotten into - they had some amazing Christmas songs too. “If you touch that playlist one more time Ms. Penelope Garcia, I will-”

“What,” she said to Rossi as she stepped over to the iPod to once again put on the Mariah Carey classic. “It’s Christmas. You gonna hurt me?”

“No,” he said, smirking as he lifted his glass to his lips. “But I’ll take that awesome Christmas present I keep telling you about back and you’ll never get to know what it is.”

Spencer kept snickering at the exchange as he continued to methodically put up ornaments, occasionally lifting up Rossi’s grandson to do the same. JJ, Tara and Luke were watching with rapt attention, waiting to see what would happen and Emily could be seen in the corner of the kitchen pouring herself a second glass of wine. Tonight would either be a “crash on Rossi’s couch” kind of night, or an “I’m definitely taking an uber” kind of night. She hadn’t decided yet. “I’ve got a way to settle this,” she laughed, taking the iPod from Penelope’s hands. “I haven’t heard Christmas in Sarajevo yet.”

“What’s that now?” Luke asked.

“You know it,” Spencer said quickly. 

As the music started up, Luke did indeed recognize. It was a well-known instrumental rock song. 

“I love this song!” Joy cried as she began to play the air guitar with Kai while her husband sat by happily watching. 

Minute by minute the songs bled into each other and the tree became more and more full. Rossi didn’t have any shortage of ornaments to choose from. Some were old, really old, he had said - as in “he’d made them in grade school old.” Others were a reminder of the places he’d traveled, like Paris, Barcelona, and Prague. And others still were pretty ones he’d admired in store windows. 

Eventually, he, Joy, Spencer and Penelope went up to the second floor where they could decorate the top of the tree, leaving only a few patches of bare tree towards the bottom as per Rossi’s instructions. “So why the bare spots at the bottom?” Tara asked. 

“Yea, I’ve been wondering that myself,” JJ added.

“Presumably,” Spencer started, waving his hands around. “He has specific ornaments he’d like to have there.”

“Exactly, my young genius.” Turning around, he grabbed a fairly large box and opened it. Inside were plain circular crystal ornaments with their names on them. “This way I always have you here.”

“Awwww,” Penelope said, enveloping him in a bear hug. “We love you too.”

While they hung their personalized ornaments, he grabbed another smaller box with three ornaments. One was a family of three snowmen that had “The Struthers Family” written on the bottom - Joy’s married name. Another was an ornament that looked like the solar system with Kai’s name on it. And finally, was the one he’d tracked down since the Christmas before. 

Though he didn’t have many, Rossi did have a few Precious Moments ornaments for important times in his life, including three “Our First Christmas” ornaments from the holidays he’d spent with his wives. But obviously, he hadn’t known about Joy when she’d had her first Christmas, which is why he’d gone searching for Precious Moments Baby’s First Christmas from the year she was born. It took him forever, and he shelled out $100 for it, but the look on her face was 100 percent worth it. “Dad,” she sniffled. “This is from the year I was born.”

“Yup. I finally tracked it down. I wanted you to put it on.”

“Thank you, Dad,” she said, failing to hold back tears as she wrapped her arms around his neck and dipped her head into the crook of his neck. 

After she put the ornament on the tree, everyone picked up their glasses, giving a silent toast. But of course, Rossi needed to cap off the night. It was what he did. And it was probably what everyone was expecting. “Although Christmas is a time to be thankful for family, I’m thankful for mine, both blood and chosen, all year around. Though we’re missing a few members of the family, let’s cheers to let them know that they are safe and loved this Christmas season.”

A symphony of glasses clinking resounded through the foyer of the Rossi home that year - it was undoubtedly the best music they’d heard all night.


End file.
